DISCLAIMER – Not mine. Belong to Anthony Zuiker, et al, CBS and Alliance Atlantis.

A/N –As always many thanks to all those who reviewed, it means a lot and is much appreciated. Many apologies for not updating in such a long time. Had a MAJOR case of writers block. Still not really gone, but I wanted to kick something out there for those of you who've been waiting.

Chapter 6

Sara's smile didn't diminish all the way back to Vegas. She turned to Greg, "Thanks for taking me. I've been jonesin' for it for…well as long as I've been a CSI really."

Greg who'd turned green a few times, but held onto his cookies quite well, returned the smile. "Hey, I've been just as curious. Those maggots though, jumping and the noise they made…ugh."

He turned a little green again at the memory. "You working tonight?" he asked, trying to get his mind off the swarming, squirming mass of blowfly larvae.

"Nope, got the night off."

"Lucky stiff."

She looked at him, and he shrugged with a smile. "Sorry, couldn't help that one."

The rest of the drive back was spent in a comfortable silence, with only the sounds of music coming from the speakers.

Arriving back in Vegas, Greg dropped Sara at her apartment. Not wanting to sound like an over protective boyfriend, but wanting to make sure none the less, that she'd be okay Greg asked, "What're you planning to do tonight?"

Sara bristled at the question, knowing what was being insinuated. "Greg, don't crowd. I appreciate everything you've done. Believe me you've been a life saver, and today, well that was just…well, thanks. But we're still just friends. Okay?"

If it weren't for the fact that his crush on her was growing, not going away, he would have walked away at that moment. But other than loving her, he was foremost her friend.

"Sara, I was only asking as a friend. I didn't mean to sound pushy. I did and I'm sorry. But after last time, you can't blame me for expressing a little concern."

Not wanting to validate his reason, she simply answered, "Today I plan to watch some mindless television, have a bite to eat, go for a drive, maybe do some reading. Is that a good enough description?" she huffed.

"Okay," he said heading back to his car. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Sighing, she watched him pull away. Wow, she thought she was conflicted before, but now it was raging out of control. On one hand, there was a man whom she was desperately in love with who didn't give her the time of day, get whom she'd told her deepest darkest secrets.

And then there was Greg. Now that she was working with him, she found out there was so much more than a lab rat geek with weird hair, a tendency toward hyper-activity and a love of Kona Diamond Reserve coffee. He was actually smart beyond geeky (which meant that he was almost as smart as Grissom), sweetly sensitive and quite a bit more than was evident at first sight, or even after one or two years.

As if life itself wasn't complicated enough.

----------------

Greg bounced into the break room. Grissom was there, as was Sofia. Glaring over his glasses, he snapped, "Where's Sara?"

Greg spoke up, "Day off Boss."

He glared a little longer, before shuffling the assignment cards in an obvious sign of irritation. "Huh, okay then. Greg, you're with me, a B and E with homicide and Sofia, two dead bodies with suspicious circumstances. Make sure the patrolman assigned to guard you DOESN'T leave until you are finished. Address is on the card."

Following his boss from the break room, Greg watched with a degree or annoyance as Grissom pulled his cell phone from his pocket. Greg ran a few steps to catch up and stop him.

"Ah, she's not gonna answer."

Grissom stopped dead in his tracks, and Greg almost slammed into him. He took his glasses off. "Why?"

Greg wanted to snap at him, 'Cause she needs a break you jerk.' Instead he took a deep breath and said, "She's worked ten days straight, and one of those days, she really wasn't well enough to work. She needs a break."

Standing in the middle of the hall undecided, Grissom tried to sort through the feelings churning in his mind. Why hadn't she been well enough to work? What had happened? Why hadn't she come to him?

"Oh, okay. Well, let's go then."

Greg followed with a sigh. She really did need the day off, and he was pretty sure she was in a good enough place – mentally – not to go off the deep end as she had the other day.

A/N 2 – Very short, very sorry. Hope you still enjoyed. Let me know.